UAE sets up desalination plants to supply Gaza with drinking water

The UAE has announced the establishment of three desalination plants in Egypt's Rafah Crossing to supply the Gaza Strip with safe drinking water. 

The announcement was made by Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, UAE's Permanent Representative to the UN, during a UAE-led trip to the crossing on Tuesday with a delegation of UN Security Council members, to provide insights into the dire humanitarian situation.

The desalination plants are part of the UAE's Gallant Knight 3 humanitarian operation to address the dire water infrastructure situation in Gaza.

They will provide clean drinking water for 300,000 people by processing approximately 600,000 gallons of seawater each day, and sending it across the Gaza Strip through a network of pipes.

#UAE launches three water desalination plants to supply Gaza with drinking water#WamNews https://t.co/03oP29rpV9 pic.twitter.com/BSAFOECZkH

— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) December 12, 2023

Nusseibehalso also emphasised the UAE's continued support of the Palestinian people in a statement upon her return.

"Looking ahead, we confirm that our contribution to any reconstruction effort in Gaza will be conditional on the existence of an unambiguous commitment, backed by tangible steps, to launch a concrete plan to achieve the two-state solution with a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian state, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and negotiated between the two parties with full international backing.

"We must also prevent, through robust measures, a wider escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the West Bank where extremist settler violence must cease immediately, and perpetrators must be held accountable.

"The only way forward from this desperate crisis is the two-State solution and the UAE will use all diplomatic and political levers to push for that outcome."

She added that the UAE will continue to demand an urgent humanitarian ceasefire.

In one of the trip's poignant moments, the delegation witnessed the evacuation of two Palestinian children to be treated in the UAE – a 9-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy.

In one of the trip's more hopeful and poignant moments amid the prevailing hardships, the delegation had the privilege of witnessing the evacuation of two Palestinian children to be treated in the UAE – a 9-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. pic.twitter.com/RReJcrdsa8

— UAE Mission to the UN (@UAEMissionToUN) December 12, 2023